It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas
by DarveyAdventCalendar
Summary: Harvey, Donna and their little one join Lily for the holidays at Boston.


_A/N: Happy birthday, Beatriz!_

**Day 22  
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_**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas**_

_by normasashes_

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Harvey wakes upon hearing the door to the en suite bathroom open. His wife is standing there, still in her pajamas, an opened robe on top of it.

"Good morning," she greets him with a smile.

"Morning," he answers her, yawning. Sitting on the bed, he looks around confused for a bit.

"It's just a little past eight," Donna answers, already knowing where his thoughts are.

"And no sign of our morning visitor?"

"I know! She's either still sleeping, or her grandmother, god bless her, intercepted her on her way here," she says with a chuckle.

"Definitely the second option. Three years, and I don't think the kid ever slept passed seven in her life." He half complains, an affectionate smile playing on his lips.

"I'm heading downstairs to see what they're up to. Care to join me?" She stands in front of him, lightly running her fingers through his hair.

"In a minute. I'll just use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I'll be right behind you." He pulls her closer by the hips and she places a quick kiss upon his lips before heading for the door.

Harvey watches her go, the sway of her hips never getting old to him, before standing up to head to the bathroom. Another yawn and he rubs his face with his palms, as if trying to get rid of the sleep.

They went to bed pretty late last night. They talked for hours, Donna, his mom and him, all three sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace, drinking wine, flipping through old pictures, reminiscing his childhood and listening to his mom tell stories about his father that he had never heard before.

They decided to come to Boston for Christmas this year, but it would be just them and his mom. Marcus and Katie took the kids to spend the holidays with her parents, and everyone back in New York was spending the holidays with their families.

They had driven from New York last night and their little one had passed out in the car by the time they got to his mom's house. Having gone to bed so early the night before, Harvey is still surprised his daughter hadn't come to their bedroom to wake them up.

He leaves the bedroom and slows down once he sees Donna hiding behind the wall at the bottom of the stairs, no doubt watching something going on in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" he whispers in her ear while hugging her from behind.

She doesn't answer, simply pointing ahead with her chin. A sweet smile on her lips.

His daughter is sitting on his mom's kitchen counter. Red hair piled up on her head in a messy bun, something that looked a lot like flour on her left cheek and nose, and a vivid red sweater with "_Who needs Santa when you have Grandma?"_ written on it. He lets out a low chuckle upon remember how his daughter had found it while shopping with them and announced she was taking it. He has no doubt she'll want to wear that thing all four days they are staying in Boston.

"And what did Daddy do, Grandma?" Her sweet voice brings him back to the moment.

"Your dad got all the tin foil paper I had in the house and started laying it around the living room. Then he went to his bedroom and came back with his pillow and his blanket and announced that he'd definitely catch Santa in the act that night. He'd sleep on the couch by the tree and the foil paper noise would wake him up as soon as Santa stepped on it."

He smiles at that memory and shrugs at Donna when she looks up at him for confirmation. Their smiles broaden upon hearing their daughter's laughter.

"Silly Daddy. Santa wouldn't fall for that. He's smart," she tells her grandma while shaking her head.

Lily smiles at her granddaughter, leaving out the part where Gordon tried to sneak into the living room to put the boys' presents under the tree and got caught on Harvey's traps after losing his footing and stepping all over the foil paper spread around.

That had been the day Harvey learned there was no Santa Claus, and boy was he mad they had lied to him for the past seven Christmases.

"What do you say to some hot chocolate while we wait for our cookies to cool down a bit?" Lily asks, already grabbing two mugs.

"Yaaaay."

Harvey squeezes Donna's hips before letting her go and stepping into the room.

"Can I have some too?" He directs the question to his mother while moving towards his daughter.

"Daddy! Grandma told me how you tried catching Santa when you were a kid," she exclaims while holding out her arms for him to pick her up.

"Yeah, I wasn't very smart." He kisses the top of her head while sharing a secret smile with his mom.

"No, you weren't. But you are a little bit smarter now." She pats his cheek trying to comfort him.

That makes Donna laugh and she quickly masks it into a cough when her husband glares at her.

"Can I have some hot chocolate too?" she asks, already going around the counter to to help Lily, getting two more mugs.

It is quiet for a bit, Donna and Lily working together while he and Liv watch them. If anyone had mentioned this would be his life some years ago, he would have never believed it.

Getting out of his daze, he turns to the little girl still in his arms.

"What do you feel like doing today, munchkin?"

"I'm watching _Home Alone_ with Grandma," she exclaims happily.

"And after that? What are your plans, miss?"

"Watching _Home Alone_ _2_ with Grandma!" she answers, looking at his mom and they share a smile.

It warms his heart to see how close they are. As close as they can be living in different cities, at least.

Moving back to New York was a no-brainer once they found out Donna was pregnant. She wanted to be close to their families and moving back put them at a short distance from her parents and his mother.

Now, they'd always take advantage when things were calm at the firm – as calm as they could be – and drive up to Boston for a longer weekend.

"Busy morning, huh? Can you please find some time for your dear dad today?" he asks while tickling her.

"Fine, fine," she says, giggling. "You can help me build a snowman."

He nuzzles her cheek and she hugs him. He hugs her back and his eyes meet Donna's. She's beaming at them.

"Okay, everyone, hot chocolate is ready!" Lily announces. "Livvie, dear, how many marshmallows for you?"

"As many as you can fit in the mug, Grandma!"

"Don't you think that's too many, love?" Donna raises an eyebrow at her mini-me.

"Is five okay?" She holds her hand to her mom and smiles expectantly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Harvey chuckles at his daughter's antics. She's cute, she knows it, and she definitely knows how to work it in her favor. Especially when there are sweets involved.

"Five is okay, yes." Donna shakes her head, amused, and goes around the counter to give Harvey his mug.

"Here, honey, help me with the cookies, I'll take our mugs to the living room." Lily holds out a plate full of the gingerbread cookies they had baked together earlier that morning for her to get.

Liv wiggles out of her father's arms and runs to get the plate from her grandmother.

"Bye bye, guys!" Liv says to her parents as she carefully walks to the living room, making all three adults laugh at her cheekiness.

"Guys! Next year there will be no more daddy. She'll start calling me Harvey and asking to borrow my car." He pretends to be affronted.

"Drama queen!" Donna says, slapping his arm.

They stand there for a while, watching as Lily puts the movie on and sits next to Liv on the couch, gently placing the hot chocolate mug in her tiny hands.

The creepish opening music starts playing and the little girl smiles excitedly at her grandma.

"Will she ever get tired of watching this movie?" Harvey asks his wife. He pulls her closer, passing an arm over her and holding her to him.

"I don't know. But I'll take the fault for that. I can't remember how many times I've watched these movies at the end of my pregnancy, and I still have no idea why!" She shakes her head with a chuckle before taking a sip of the warm drink in her hands.

"Oh, I remember. Every time I got home you were in front of the TV with a pint of Chunky Monkey." The memory makes him smile and he tightens his hold on her, placing a kiss on her temple.

"God, at the end I was _looking_ like a chunky monkey," she half moans at the memory.

"Nonsense. You looked beautiful." He looks down at her and they share a smile.

They stay there for a while, watching grandmother and granddaughter giggle and share knowing looks over the antics going on in the crowded house shown on the screen, until Harvey breaks their comfortable silence.

"I'll be forever grateful to you for that, you know? This is all thanks to you." He looks down at her, meeting her eyes.

"Don't say that, silly, you helped. A little bit. I did all the hard work. But she is half yours." She says cheekily.

"Smartass," he takes advantage of his position behind her and bites gently on her neck, making her yelp. "I don't mean that. _Not only that_, at least. My mother. If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd be here right now, enjoying this so much." His tone gets somber.

"I don't think so. You've grown so much, Harvey. I believed that one day or another, you'd get here, sharing this with your mom. I just gave you a little push."

"Thank you for always believing in me." He places a kiss on her forehead.

"Always," she answers. "Now… what do you say we take advantage of our babysitter over there and go back upstairs?" she asks, already taking his mug from his hand and placing it alongside hers on the kitchen counter.

She holds his hand and starts pulling him towards the stairs.

"Still tired?" he checks.

"Not at all." She winks at him and he lets out a low growl, making her laugh and hurry up the stairs to their bedroom.

He laughs at her joyish behavior and takes his sweet time climbing the rest of the steps, like most predators do.

In that short moment, he can't think of a period in his life when he was happier than this.

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End file.
